Freedom.

It is a taste she has taken for granted this past season of solitude beneath rock, suffering without sunlight, praying for relief or release. In time, she would tell herself. Patience, she would remind herself. It had paid off, no matter how many times she'd wanted to kick and scream and charge out of the Sanctuary like a rabid dog on the hunt for a victim. She was a free bird, and even when tied down with alliances and herds, she would never be broken down and held within a cage of rock and soil. Now, she was able to smell the crisp, freezing scents of Frostfall. While it wasn't her kind of weather, especially being on the more delicate side of the stature spectrum, Aodaun was having a blast. The freezing weather was his wonderland, as an ice bear, and as cold as Lakota was she just laughed and let him go bounding off into the cold reaches of Helovia.

Where they ended up, however, wasn't something she'd ever seen before.

Aodaun reached it first, and she trailed behind him slowly, crystallized air a thick white mist around her delicate features. Orange clay beads clicked melodically in her tresses as she moved, the scar on her side aching in the cold as she eyed the structure rising from the earth before her. She'd never seen it before, or at least couldn't recall ever coming across it before. It was surprisingly old, ancient even, and almost perfectly round. So intrigued by the architecture of it, she didn't even bother to check her surroundings, at least until she heard a rather obtrusive voice echoing across the frozen ground towards her from some unknown, unseen place. "What the fuck. Eggs don't do that unless...."

Ebony aurals pricked at the sound, Aodaun snapping to attention, all traces of play disappearing as he raced back to her side. Threat or not, after Ktulu had left the scar on her side, he had been ten times more protective. It was still sore, and tended to seize up and impede her movement, and he didn't fancy it acting up during a battle if he wasn't there. Relying on Aodaun's more sensitive nose, the two wound around the strange architecture placed in the middle of the clearing, searching for the source of the cursing stranger. Lakota already was intrigued, for she knew exactly what eggs heralded. For her, Aodaun had been an abandoned cub, and the two had spent the night together in a crystal cave, waiting out a blizzard. By morning they had been blessed with a bond. But Lakota had witnessed enough hatchings to know what this poor stranger likely didn't. As a bound mare, she may at least be able to offer some advice. She'd had to hunt for Aodaun for a long time before he could feed himself, after all.

Rounding the extravagant piece of work, her violet eyes fell upon the cherry battered form of a unicorn, staring wide-eyed at an emerging pup from a glowing egg. Lakota gave an understanding smile, awaiting the name that soon fell from his lips, before gliding forward. Careful to give an appropriate amount of space for the bonded pair, she cleared her throat softly. "A beautiful name," she commented easily, intelligence flickering in vibrant violet orbs. "I'm Lakota, and this is my own bonded, Aodaun." Directly after, Aodaun gave a short, soft bark of confirmation, not wishing to frighten the newborn that lay curled on the earth outside the protective casing of its shell.

"She is likely hungry. Would you like help acquiring something? Aodaun is a fine hunter, and I certainly know the difficulties of a newborn companion," she laughed wittily, smile curving the bow of her lips into a playfully teasing ascent. Long plume flicks to curl around her ankle idly, shifting hips to watch him curiously, smiling down at the tiny newborn with a look of nostalgia. Oh, she remembered how small Aodaun had once been. It made her want to coo over her grown up baby. Aodaun huffed softly, but there was a warm flow of love that echoed back to her from his end. He understood.